Experimental coronavirus vaccine shows promise in early stage study

Warren Cooper |Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Moderna Covid-19 vaccine generates immune response, early data show

The alternative is simply to give test subjects doses of the vaccine and see who ends up COVID-positive in the normal course of their lives - a process which is less controversial but requires much more time.

"We got the first results today... and today we are showing that it actually works... we are able to stimulate the immune system", Dr. Tal Zaks said. A safe and effective vaccine is the best way to prevent Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the newcoronavirus, and to curb its transmission, public-health officials say.

"The likelihood is we won't have enough to vaccinate even the entire USA population" when a vaccine first becomes available, he said.

Moderna Inc said on Monday its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced antibodies that could "neutralize" the new coronavirus in patients in a small early stage clinical trial, sending its shares up 25%.

Moderna plans to move forward with lower doses in the next step of testing. The only side effect was in one patient where there was redness around the injection site.

According to CNBC, Moderna's 45 trial volunteers were placed in three groups of 15 people to evaluate low, medium, and high microgram doses of the vaccine.

Moderna said Monday it had obtained initial positive results from its trial of a vaccine for the coronavirus.

The results show an increased level of antibodies in the 8 patients given various dose levels that matched the levels of antibodies blood samples from people who have recovered from COVID-19.

The Phase 2 trial, with 600 subjects, has already received the green light from the US Food and Drug Administration and Moderna said they should begin this quarter.

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The first phase of the trial, which is ongoing, involves safety testing in healthy volunteers, looking for side effects and adverse effects from the vaccine itself.

The report also tested the vaccine on mice and found that it prevented viral replication in the animals' lungs.

The results of the study, which was led by the National Institutes Health, have not been peer reviewed or published in a medical journal. It is slated to start phase 3 in July where Moderna will recruit adults who are most at risk for infection.

In upcoming phases of the trial, researchers will be trying to strike a balance around the effectiveness of the vaccine at lower doses - because the lowest effective dose will allow for greater production volume when the time comes.

The advantage of mRNA vaccines over more traditional vaccines is they can be made quickly.

A dozen clinical trials are taking place around the world, half of them in China, according to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Reducing the dose required to produce immunity could help spare the amount of vaccine required in each shot, meaning the company could ultimately produce more of the vaccine.

The challenge is not only finding a safe and efficient vaccine, but also producing billions of doses.

Here, Moderna has isolated a segment of genetic material called mRNA-1273 from the SARS-CoV-2 virus that codes for the Spike protein.

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